Representation by Clifford M. Reed
- Date submitted
- 28 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Sizewell C would be a permanent and highly intrusive imposition on the Suffolk Herirage Coast and the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. It would threaten the biodiversity of a wildlife-rich area by damaging and destroying the habitats of many plant and animal species, including SSSIs. The internationally important RSPB Minsmere Reserve would be impacted to an extreme degree by the construction and ongoing operation of Sizewell C. Careful environmental management by the RSPB and other conservation bodies would be disrupted and its birdlife would be threatened by noise, light and other forms of pollution. The Suffolk coast is slowly sinking. Combined with rising sea levels the resultant long-term threat posed by building Sizewell C there is real. The construction of Sizewell C over an estimated period of ten years, along with the associated construction of roads, accommodation and other infrastructure would damage the natural and human environment and involve the production of high levels of C02 at a time when these must be reduced in response to the climate emergency. Sizewell C would continue the build-up of nuclear waste, for the safe disposal of which no solution has yet been found. This waste, along with Sizewell C itself, would remain lethally dangerous for centuries to come. Stability - environmental, social and political - would be necessary in the extreme long term to safeguard the security of the nuclear power station and the region in which it is situated. There is no way that such stability can be guaranteed. The argument that Sizewell C will provide employment is based on short-term thinking. Construction of Sizewell C and its attendant infrastructure would - apparently - last ten years, and much, if not most, of the workforce would come from elsewhere. Apart from these temporary jobs, the long-term benefits would be limited. Meanwhile, the influx of large numbers of temporary workers during the construction period could be socially disruptive in a rural area ill-equipped to cater for them. Sizewell C would have a negative and permanent impact on local employment and economic activity relating to the area's scenic beauty and wildlife. The gain of temporary jobs would be offset by the loss of permanent ones. The future of energy generation generally and on the Suffolk coast in particular lies with truly renewable technologies. These will bring secure employment, are genuinely long-term and do not pose an irreversible threat to the natural and human environment. Nuclear power is outmoded, expensive and dangerous and its promotion is in the hands of vested interests with little real commitment to Suffolk or even to the United Kingdom. To place the future of our energy supplies in the hands of such interests - including a country noted for its expansionist policies and poor human rights record - is irresponsible and immoral.